1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates, in general, to a cooling apparatus, and, more particularly, to a cooling apparatus which has two or more independently cooled cooling compartments.
2. Description of the Related Art
Generally, in a cooling apparatus having two or more cooling compartments, respective cooling compartments are separated by partition walls, and selectively opened and closed by doors. Further, an evaporator, which generates cool air, and a fan, which blows the cool air into each of the cooling compartments, are mounted in each cooling compartment. Since all cooling compartments are independently cooled by the operation of respective evaporators and fans, this cooling manner is called an independent cooling manner.
As a representative cooling apparatus to which the independent cooling manner is applied, there is a refrigerator with a freezer compartment and a refrigerator compartment. The freezer compartment of the refrigerator is generally used to keep frozen food, and a typical suitable temperature thereof is approximately −18° C. The refrigerator compartment is used to keep normal food, not requiring freezing, at the normal temperature equal to or greater than 0° C. A typical suitable temperature in the refrigerator compartment is approximately 3° C.
Although the suitable temperatures of the refrigerator and freezer compartments are different, as described above, evaporation temperatures of refrigerator and freezer compartment evaporators are the same in a conventional refrigerator. Therefore, a freezer compartment fan is continuously operated, and a refrigerator compartment fan is intermittently operated to blow cool air into the refrigerator compartment if necessary, thus preventing the internal temperature of the refrigerator compartment from excessively decreasing.
As described above, even though the evaporation of refrigerant is continuously carried out in the refrigerator compartment evaporator, the operation of the refrigerator compartment fan is intermittently carried out, so cool air generated during an idle period of the refrigerator compartment fan is not supplied to the refrigerator compartment, but becomes a factor in forming frost on a surface of the refrigerator compartment evaporator. As frost is formed on the surface of the refrigerator compartment evaporator, evaporation efficiency of the refrigerator compartment evaporator deteriorates, thus deteriorating cooling efficiency of the refrigerator compartment. Further, even under conditions where cooling of only the refrigerator compartment is required, refrigerant must be compressed in consideration of an evaporation temperature required for the freezer compartment evaporator, thus unnecessarily increasing a load of the compressor.